


In Her Childish Mind

by oceanniqht



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Falling In Love, Flash Fic, Fluff, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:54:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27723097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oceanniqht/pseuds/oceanniqht
Summary: Anne and Gilbert were looking forward to spending a sweet winter together.
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Kudos: 21





	In Her Childish Mind

Words danced on the page and flowers grazed her bare legs as she walked across the meadow and headed into the woods with her nose buried in a book. Ouch. The book fell out of her hands and the pain hit her before she fully registered what had happened. Teeth singing, stars swimming in her vision, she pulled away from the tree. The bark was scarcely visible in the dim twilight. She had reached the woods. She bent to pick up her book and scuffed her head against the trunk again on the way up. A soft laugh sounded from the dense shrubs lining the forest. A boy stepped out of the shadows and walked up to her. Her boy.   
“Hello,” he said, grinning.   
“That tree has something against me,” she said quickly, a flush rising to her cheeks.   
“This tree? This one’s harmless, he said patting the trunk affectionately. “All bark, no bite,” he added slyly.  
She couldn’t help it. She laughed. His returning smile was rewarding enough. They had ought to get back before the wolves came out, but in her childish mind, their somber howls were as melodious as the most beautiful music, playing the perfect backdrop as the boy walked over and sheepishly pressed a feather-light kiss to her cheek, his outline stark against the purple-blue hues of the evening sky.   
“Race you back to the farm,” she said, and ran off with her book in one hand, trying to outrun the butterflies in her stomach.

***

The pallid sunlight poured down on her. A dark shadow fell over her. She looked up to find the boy towering over the small patch of frosty grass where she lay on her back.  
“Do you plan on just lying there the whole day?” he laughed. She lightly smacked him on the leg. “You’re getting wet,” he pointed out. She looked down to see the melting snow seeping through her thick coat. The girl shrugged. Reluctantly, the boy made to join her on the ground but suddenly stopped. He rose to his full height and pointed to something on the lake.  
“What is that?” he asked unsurely. She sat up and followed his gaze to the middle of the lake. Among the unmoving anchored boats, what looked to be a young rabbit flailed on the ice, struggling to get back onto the bank. He began to walk towards it before she grabbed his ankle.  
“You can’t be serious,” she said. “That ice is thin.”   
“But it needs help,” he protested weakly.  
“Don’t.” He ignored her warnings and stepped onto the ice cautiously.   
“It’ll be fine. I’m being careful. See?” He slid slowly across the ice to the nearest skiff and grabbed hold of its edge. Too scared to follow in his footsteps, she stood on the bank and watched with wide eyes. He kept going in the same manner until he reached the rabbit. He bent to pick it up and cradle it to his chest. “Now he just needs to come back,” she muttered under her breath. As soon as the boy stepped stood without his hand on a boat to support his weight, the ice began to crack. Slowly at first, then all at once. The ice broke, creating a circle of slushy water. The boy fell through still holding the rabbit. She screamed.

***

The watery sunlight bounced off the frozen lake and hit the window. She sat on the windowsill, her breaths coming out in little clouds of fog. Memories from her past flashed across her mind as she sat drawing pictures with her fingers on the fogged over glass. The haunting absence of the boy overtook her, leaving her feeling hollow an empty. All she wanted was to lie in the snow by the iced over lake and stare at the skiffs, still in time. Yet no matter how deeply she desired to dance on the ice, a lingering dark presence in her head kept her legs leaden. Something in the back of her mind warned her of a danger. Tears tracked chilling paths down her pinked cheeks. Finally, she gave in and went outside despite the cold. The boy’s words played on repeat in her mind as she walked out into the icy hell to hear the winter birds sing their melancholy melodies.


End file.
